Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Max Liebermann in his studio, 1926/28

Artist
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Title:
Max Liebermann in his studio

Year of creation
1926/28

Technique and dimensions
oil on canvas, 80 x 70 cm

Year of acquisition
2014

Acquired from the inheritance of Mrs. Manuela Müller

In a letter dated March 5, 1926, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner reported on a visit to his painter colleague in his Berlin house on Pariser Platz: "I was with old Liebermann, who is already getting very old and in He can hardly speak much any more. He's strangely vain, but of course he has the wisdom of his age."

The Expressionist's homage to the doyen of German Impressionism shows the artist in his home surroundings on Pariser Platz. There is nothing to indicate Liebermann's activity as a painter: he appears in a brown street suit in front of a large grand piano with a glowing red surface on which two large bouquets of flowers stand. Behind him, Pariser Platz can be seen through the windows - in between there is a piece of wall that looks like a column that also seems to rest on Liebermann's shoulders. In fact, Liebermann played a key role - in the art world of the time as well as for Kirchner. In 1922, in his capacity as President of the Prussian Academy of Arts, he campaigned for Kirchner's admission to the institution, but this did not come about until 1931.

The painting dates from Kirchner's late period, who, after his time at the Dresden Bridge (1905–11) and the following years in Berlin, moved to the Swiss mountains in 1917, where his painting style gradually calmed down. The turbulent Berlin street scenes were now replaced by images in a colorful, abstract style, in which the lifelike dynamics solidified into spaceless ornamentation and further strengthened their expressiveness.

For the Nationalgalerie collection, this late work is an impressive addition to its important Kirchner holdings, which also include Kirchner's famous Potsdamer Platz from 1914.

Kyllikki Zechariah